Hi all. First post. Maybe someone can give me some insight on a new thing happening this year with the turkeys. The birds are staying way out from the decoys I put out at 20 yards. Its almost like they know their decoys. I watched a tom for 2 hours half circle far and wide from my ground blind. I finally got ticked and took a shot at over 60 yards. I got him after several shots, hit him every time but still had to finish it walking up to him because it was so far. Then went out with my son and same thing. The flock walked by at a distance headed for another hen and payed no attention to our decoys. He was able to get his tom but at over 50 yards. I like them no farther than 30 yards.I call as needed but they ignore it.Using one hen and one jake decoy as always. We have been hunting turkeys for 6 years. This is the strangest behavior we have seen. In the past they have always responded and eventually come in to the decoys. Are they wising up? And if they are, whats next?

well first off welcome, and secondly i'll say i don't hunt w/ decoys all that often, i doubt that the birds have gotten smarter, maybe just a bit more leery if your season has been in full swing for awhile, my theory would be that if the dekes weren't moving and they could see/watch that for some distance, that isn't natural, from 50 yds away they may not even have recognized them as decoys/turkeys ?? or ole slick just stood out there waiting for your decoy to come to him, just like all his other friends do, sorta like when they hang up at 50-60 yds in the woods, or maybe they were intimidated by the jake decoy and didn't want " any trouble ", i'm sure there are alot of theories to this situation, hard to say whats going on in that walnut sized brain, but thats why we keep going back for more, right ?? just my 2 cents, probably not alot of help tho.....again, welcome

Welcome spurgirl, You got to try something different do away with the decoys, set up in different location, try different call. Don't know where you are, but the birds seem to be acting the same in my area. At least you have birds ,,,,I haven't seen or heard one all spring Good Luck

What works for me may not work for you and what works today may not work tomorrowDoug <- <- ~<- <- <- ~ <-

Thanks for the nice welcomes and replies. Im in Minnesota. My 5 day season was the second session so I dont think the birds were spooked.I took my bird the first day. I hardly ever hear a distant gun shot so there arent many others pounding the area (fools ! Turkey hunting is the best!) I will practice up with a new call. Maybe that will help next year (Dang, I have to wait a whole year!). Or a feathered decoy. I will get to sit in on 2 more hunts in the next week. Maybe Ill learn a new technique just watching.

What is this nonsense about not using decoys? Ive seriously never heard of such a thing. I will assume that your both just joking.

First off welcome to the forum!! No I don't think they are joking. Sometimes not having decoys makes the gobbler look a little harder for the hen and hopefully come in to the end of your gun barrel. I sometimes use them, and sometimes don't. Sometimes if the gobbler can see the dekes he expects the hen to come to him, sometimes they come right in. If you have a lot of jakes in the area, sometimes the toms will shy away from the jake decoy as the groups of jakes have beat up on him. You never know for sure what is going through that pea size brain of his. Usually if I have that happen, the next time I will try without decoys or try just one or two hens.

I've found that most people here in MN think the only way to hunt turkeys is to sit in a blind on a field where they've been watching turkeys for several weeks, put out a duck sized spread of decoys, and sit there until their 5 day season is up. In short, they hunt turkeys like they would hunt deer. If they only knew what they were missing

Gopherlongbeards wrote:I've found that most people here in MN think the only way to hunt turkeys is to sit in a blind on a field where they've been watching turkeys for several weeks, put out a duck sized spread of decoys, and sit there until their 5 day season is up. In short, they hunt turkeys like they would hunt deer. If they only knew what they were missing

You have to do some Runnin & Gunnin, it's the only way to find a hot bird sometimes!

Take it from a hillbilly down here in Ky. You don't need a decoy to kill turkeys, although there is sometimes one is useful, I have taken majority of my birds without one. I would say in your situation, the toms you are talking about is just acting as nature intends. What I mean by that is when you have your hen decoy out, the gobbler hangs up out there at 60-70 yards because he is expecting the hen (your decoy) to come on over to him because thats how it is in nature. If you toss the decoys for a hunt, you might find that a Tom will come on in looking for the hen because he does not see a hen standing right there, which leads him to hang up. These guys might be right about hunting pressure but IMO I think the toms that hang up on you are just doing what theyre supposed to do in nature. Also welcome to the forum!!

There's more fun in hunting with the handicap of the bow than there is in hunting with the sureness of the gun.
-Fred Bear

with or without a decoy if the birds ready to come in hes gonna go ahead and come in. if he can see the dekes the whole time hes gobbling and strutting he usually wont come in. so either go full strut or no decoys at all. NEVER had a bird hang on my b mobile , but after u kill a dozen or so birds as theyre running by u to get to the decoy u realize u might be missing the "show".

I've killed about 75% of my turkeys without a decoy. Using decoys causes the turkey to focus on it and not you, though sometimes they can scare birds off. My experience is if a more dominant gobbler is coming in to decoys around a strut zone, your decoy is probably going to get his rubber @$$ kicked if you don't shoot that gobbler first.

I've been able to sneak farther away from a hung up gobbler and continue to call to make it sound like the hen is leaving. Often, that tactic will break the gobbler out of being hung up and get him to commit to your decoys, where the shooter will get a better shot. You may consider adding movement to your decoy by tying some braided fishing line to it to give it a little bit of motion. Calling with contented purrs and quiet yelps has worked for me too, just don't get too loud or move around much. I hope this helps.